Power bills for Meralco customers to go down this March
MANILA, Philippines—Customers of the Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest power distributor, can look forward to lower power bills in March as the generation charge fell by 24 centavos per kilowatt-hour to P5.33 per kWh this month.
Households consuming 100 kWh a month can expect a decrease of P24 in their electricity bills, while those that use up to 200 kWh a month will enjoy a reduction of P48 for March. Households that consume 300 kWh and 400 kWh month can also expect decreases of P72 and P96, respectively.
“Despite rising costs of fuel and other commodities, electricity consumers will at least get a reprieve from rising prices due to lower electricity bills this March,” the company said.
According to Meralco, the decline in the generation charge can be attributed to the reduction in the cost of power obtained from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), which contributed 5 percent of Meralco’s power requirements in February.
“WESM charges were lower by P5.04 per kWh compared to the previous month. The improved availability among the generating companies, especially the coal-fired power plants, led to the softening of rates in the spot market. There were also less instances of inadequate reserves in the February supply month,” the distribution utility explained.
Meanwhile, the cost of power sourced from the independent power producers (IPPs) similarly fell by 12 centavos per kWh due to lower fuel costs, and an appreciation of the peso against the US dollar. IPPs, which now include SEM Calaca’s 600-megawatt coal facility in Batangas, comprised 45.5 percent of Meralco’s power requirements for the supply month of February.
Apart from SEM Calaca, Meralco also secures power supply from three other IPPs namely Quezon Power Philippines Ltd.’s coal-fed facility and the 1,000-megawatt Sta. Rita and the 500-MW San Lorenzo natural gas-fired plants, which are owned by the Lopez-led First Gas Holdings.
The reduced rates from WESM and IPPs had more than offset the 25-centavo per kWh increase in the cost of power taken from state-run National Power Corp., which accounted for 49.5 percent of total supply in February.
Meralco, however, is advising its customers to prepare for possible increases in electricity prices now that summer has officially begun, as power usage typically increases during the hot summer months. Appliances, it explained, work doubly hard in warm weather conditions in addition to more members of the household using electricity during the summer vacation break.
The power company advised its customers to observe energy efficiency tips during this time of the year. These include opening the refrigerator only when needed, unplugging unused appliances, and ironing clothes in bulk among others.
Meralco again stressed that the generation charge was entirely a pass-through charge and did not accrue or go to Meralco. The cost of electricity sold by the generating companies could move from month to month based on many factors beyond its control, among them fuel prices, the dispatch of the independent power producers, the foreign exchange rate and WESM prices.
The power distributor added that should there be adjustments in the cost of generation from its various suppliers, these would be reflected in the customers’ bills, such as this month’s reduction.
